Forum Discussion

pbitschura's avatar
pbitschura
Explorer
Jun 11, 2020

Remove cabover window. best way to seal the opening

Hi all. We have an '88 Chevy Mallard C. the window has leaked and been repaired and now needs a rebuild from the top of the window down. Several years ago, I rebuilt the upper which is now supported by struts (think of the wing of an airplane). They were made of plywood, laminated for strength. The lower will be done much the same. The front window will be removed and filled with .036 sheet aluminum. Now my question:

What is an aesthetically pleasing edge treatment around the seam.? I planned to back seal the joint then tech screw through aluminum skin and sheet into framing.Perhaps eternabond caulk the screw heads? Then tape.

Also, I planned to use Loctite PowerGrab sealant. I'd like opinions of your experience.

Any way, with everything closed down and time on my hands, that is my current project.

Thanks all.
Class C
  • glennts's avatar
    glennts
    Explorer
    Jun 25, 2020
    When I did mine I first made a plywood insert for the hole and then bought a 4x8 sheet of fiberglass... shower wall material. Removed the aluminum trim and ran two strips of 3M UHB tape along the top and sides and four strips on the nose bend. The fiberglass had no problems bending around the nose. Once the tape made contact it held. You can then replace the trim or what I did was lay down 6" and then 4" fiberglass tape using marine epoxy resin. Worked out so well I eventually replace all the trim on the RV the same way.
  • klutchdust's avatar
    klutchdust
    Explorer II
    Jun 13, 2020
    pauldub wrote:
    I've considered removing my front window and just skinning over the hole with a piece of filon that is bigger than the opening. I would bond it with one of the 3M marine adhesive caulk products and add stiffing to the back of the filon in the open area. I just haven't figured out how to decorate the outside so that it doesn't just look like a big patch.


    Maybe some sort of decal to break it up a little. I think someone did that and mentioned it on a thread somewhere.
  • Grit_dog's avatar
    Grit_dog
    Navigator
    Jun 12, 2020
    If you can make the fill-in flat, you could re-skin the whole cab over with thin diamond plate sheet. Would look good IMO. But around $100 for the piece.
  • pauldub's avatar
    pauldub
    Explorer
    Jun 12, 2020
    I've considered removing my front window and just skinning over the hole with a piece of filon that is bigger than the opening. I would bond it with one of the 3M marine adhesive caulk products and add stiffing to the back of the filon in the open area. I just haven't figured out how to decorate the outside so that it doesn't just look like a big patch.
  • bobndot's avatar
    bobndot
    Explorer II
    Jun 11, 2020
    What about doing a cabover reskin using all new up to date sealant ?
    If you just remove the window and patch the hole then you will still have OEM sealant on the rest of the cabover seams and clearance lights as well as worrying about the hole you just covered to potentially leak. Just my .02 cents.

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